Sixers seek to end 6-year skid in showdown at Toronto

"We're really looking forward to going up there and using it as a really early sort of barometer of where we are," Brown said after Tuesday's practice at the team's training facility.

Brown is 0-12 in Toronto during his five-plus seasons as Sixers coach — Doug Collins was the coach the last time Philly won in Ontario (Nov. 10, 2012). The Raptors rolled past the visiting Sixers 129-112 on Oct. 30 in the lone meeting this year, which Brown jokingly claimed resulted in him having "selective amnesia" about what happened.

But the nationally televised meeting should be interesting for a bunch of reasons.

The 20-5 Raptors and 17-8 Sixers possess the top two records in the Eastern Conference. They are among the hottest teams in the NBA, having each gone 8-1 in their last nine games. Philly has the best home record in the league (13-1) and Toronto (10-3) isn't too far behind.

The Sixers are just 4-7 on the road, though. Their best road victory was a 100-94 drubbing of the then 7-4 Pacers on Nov. 7.

This could be a preview of an Eastern Conference semifinal or conference final series, though don't forget about the Celtics or Bucks.

Perhaps most intriguing will be seeing what impact Jimmy Butler has on the game. Acquired 10 games ago, Butler's presence should prevent the Raptors from constantly putting elite defender Kawhi Leonard on Ben Simmons. Leonard was the primary reason Simmons committed 11 turnovers on Oct. 30.

"You've got sort of a sparring partner for Kawhi," Brown said. "There's a newness that the history of what we might have done in Toronto is irrelevant to him. He doesn't care. It's a new day and we've got a new team and we're feeling good about the direction that we are heading."

Four-time all-star Butler went to head to head with two-time all-star Leonard when they played in other cities. They are two of the league's most versatile two-way players — Leonard is a two-time NBA defensive player of the year and Butler is a four-time second-team all-defensive selection — and good friends.

"I like the challenge of going up against everybody," Butler said. "All the prime-time guys in the league — I look forward to it. It's going to be a [heck] of a battle. He's physical. The guy has some really long arms and some really big hands and just plays hard. He's super-smart. I don't think there's anything he can do on either side of the ball."

Butler, who has hit a pair of game-winning 3-pointers as a Sixer, is also a late-game offensive closer the Sixers desperately needed.

Perhaps the Sixers' biggest plus is MVP candidate Joel Embiid, who had 30 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting. The Raptors don't have anybody capable of controlling the 7-foot-2, 275-pound Embiid.

"I feel like any team in the league, it doesn't matter who they have on me — I feel like I always have the advantage as far as the matchup to help us get the win," Embiid said. "... The past couple games, I haven't been aggressive and I've been playing bad, so I've just got to make sure I get it back [Wednesday]. I think [this] is a perfect game to do so.”

The Raptors averaged 52.6 wins during the past five seasons (compared to the Sixers' 25.4), culminating with a conference-leading 59-win campaign last year prior to trading for Leonard in the offseason. They reached the conference finals in 2015-16 before losing to LeBron James and the Cavaliers and play in front of a perennially sold-out, loud Scotiabank Arena.

Embiid talked about how much he likes playing in front of passionate fans, how he feeds off of that energy and compared the Toronto faithful to the Sixers' fans, except "they're not as nasty as Philly fans." He made it sound like a compliment to the 20,000-plus that fill the Wells Fargo Center.

If the Sixers can end their six-year skid north of the border, Butler doesn't want to hear that he made the difference.

"If we do happen to win, I don't want y'all to say 'because Jimmy's here now, that's the reason,' " Butler said, "because that's not the case at all. I have to play to my very best, along with everybody else on our roster. We have to go in there and play perfect basketball to beat them at home. I think we're capable of it to show we're one of the elite teams in the East."

The challenge is clear. The question remains: Can the Sixers finally figure out a way to pass their tough Toronto test?